The Case of the Girl Next Door
by bookmaniac2013
Summary: Kate's the new tenant in 221C, and she's not particularly fond of her new neighbor Sherlock. When there's a murder at Kate's work, Sherlock's called in to investigate and the two are forced to work together. But the deeper they get into the case, the more it seems to have to do with Kate's hidden past. Will Sherlock solve the case of the girl next door? rated t for later chapters.


**A/N: ok wow, i haven't written anything in months, ugh bad me. well needless to say i've been kinda busy lately, senior paper and work and all that. this is actually a piece i had to write for my senior paper/project (it was WAY more than just a paper) and it's actually part of a longer fic that i want to write, but don't exactly have drafted out yet, but i thought you guys would enjoy this. Kate is my OC, and while i do kinda play up the whole OC/Sherlock thing, it isn't endgame. this probably takes place around series 2. not exactly a johnlock shipper, but you can read it that way if you want in later chapters (not much in this one i'm afraid). enjoy and review!**

* * *

Rain pounded against the sidewalk. Small lakes formed along the sides of the roads, the result of heavy downpour and a less than adequate draining system. The puddles sat in the most inconvenient places, just waiting for an unfortunate pedestrian to unknowingly walk into one.

A young woman walked down the street at a quick pace, trying to shield her face from the rain with a newspaper. The shower had come on quite suddenly, changing in the blink of an eye like London weather usually does in early spring. Unlike most of the Londoners around her, she didn't have an umbrella hidden somewhere on her person, and had to make due with what she had on her when she walked out of the subway.

Despite her efforts, her tan overcoat and knit hat were soaked and her dark wavy hair was plastered to the sides of her face. She stopped and looked up at the apartment building across the street, then down at the ad she had circled in the newspaper. 221 Baker St. She had the right place. Stowing her soggy paper under her arm, she jogged across the street, dodging both traffic and puddles. She hurried up the steps and knocked on the dark front door. A minute later, it opened, revealing an older woman on the other side.

"Mrs. Hudson?" the woman asked.

"Yes, can I help you?" Mrs. Hudson responded.

"I'm Kate Morris. I called about looking at your spare apartment for rent?" she said loudly, trying to be heard over the roar of the rain and traffic.

"Oh, yes, of course. Here, come in, come in." She smiled and ushered Kate through the door and into a small hallway. "Oh look at you; you're soaked to the bone! Here let me make you a cuppa, that'll warm you up," said Mrs. Hudson.

"Thank you," Kate said, and graciously accepted the steaming cup of tea Mrs. Hudson handed her a minute later. She wrapped her hands around it, thankful to feel the heat slowly seeping back into her numb fingers.

Once Kate was done with her tea, Mrs. Hudson led them up stairs towards the vacant apartment on the third floor, chatting the whole way up. Kate looked as they passed the apartment labeled 221 B at the top of the landing; there didn't appear to be anyone home.

They continued up another flight of stairs before coming to a plain wooden door labeled 221 C. Mrs. Hudson hung back as Kate looked around the apartment. It was small, consisting of only a bedroom, bathroom, and the main room in which they were currently standing, which contained both the living room and a kitchenette in the corner. The wallpaper was outdated and peeling in some places and the windows didn't seem like they worked all too well, but through them Kate could see all the way down to the street below.

"It needs a little fixing up, but it has a lot of potential," said Mrs. Hudson from the doorway.

Kate turned away from the windows and walked back over to Mrs. Hudson, hands in her coat pockets. "It's nice," she nodded, looking back over her shoulder at the room. "How much is the rent?"

"Oh, well let's see," Mrs. Hudson pondered, fingers on her chin. "Seeing as you'll have to fix it up a bit yourself, and because I rather like you," she said, making Kate smile. "How about…300 pounds a week?"

"Sounds fair," Kate said.

"Well it's a done deal then!" Mrs. Hudson said excitedly as they walked back down the stairs. "When will you be moving in, dear?"

"Hopefully, within the week, but it might take some time to get everything here," Kate said as they came to the bottom of the stairs.

Just then, the front door opened and two men walked in. One was very tall and had curly black hair. The other was shorter, with blonde hair and a slight limp. As they passed us, the tall one completely ignored them, but the blonde one nodded a greeting and smiled.

"Oh, Sherlock, John!" called Mrs. Hudson. "This is your new neighbor Kate. She will be moving into the flat right above yours."

"Pleasure to meet you," Kate said and extended her hand to the shorter man, who was closest.

"John Watson," he said kindly and smiled.

Kate turned and shook hands with the other man, Sherlock, who had finally put down his phone long enough to recognize her existence. His eyes narrowed at her as they stiffly shook hands.

"Sherlock Holmes. Welcome to England," he said, releasing her hand.

His statement caught Kate off guard. "Um, excuse me?"

"Your clothes. Not typical for a Londoner, so you're obviously from out of the country; America, according to your accent and shoes. What paper do you work for?"

Kate just stood there dumbstruck. "Uh, the Express. How-?"

"Your right sleeve is worn on the right cuff only, obviously from moving across a surface repeatedly. You have a pencil behind your ear, which either means you're an accountant, or, more likely, have some kind of profession in writing. There is a slight callus on your right middle finger from where said pencil has been rubbing against it while you write, and you have an advanced copy of tomorrow's paper," he said nodding to the still slightly damp newspaper under Kate's arm. "All signs… point to writer," he finished, looking her over again. "Did I get anything wrong?"

"Uh, no… right all around," Kate said.

"Thought so," he said turning away and heading up the stairs to his flat. "Mrs. Hudson, if you could bring me up some biscuits, I'm famished."

"Not your housekeeper!" she called after him.

John bid them good day and followed after Sherlock.

"What the heck was that?" Kate exclaimed after the two men had disappeared into their flat.

"Oh, that's just Sherlock." Mrs. Hudson said, waving it off. "He does that to everybody. He's really quite nice once you get to know him."

"Uh huh…" said Kate looking back over her shoulder at the door of 221B, not completely sure she wanted to get to know him. John seemed nice, but there was something about Sherlock that just put her on edge. "Um, so I'll be by tomorrow to start moving in, if that's ok?" said Kate.

"Perfectly fine, dear," said Mrs. Hudson as she showed Kate to the door. "Welcome to the neighborhood!" she said and closed the door behind her.

Kate sighed contently and walked back down the steps. She'd finally found a place to live and it'd even stopped raining. Things were looking up.

She crossed the street, but looked back at 221 Baker St. one last time. A flicker of movement in one of the windows caught her attention. Watching her from his apartment was none other Sherlock Holmes himself, pushing the curtain aside to watch her as she left. Their eyes met briefly, but he didn't turn away at first. They continued to watch each other for a moment before Sherlock disappeared from his window back into his flat. The encounter left Kate a bit unsettled.

"Yes, welcome indeed," she said to herself and walked away.

* * *

**How'd i do? Rate and let me know!**


End file.
